Downtown Express photos by Elisabeth Robert A spirited Bordeaux team goes up field again Paris in a Downtown Soccer League game.

Minor 8

Bologna vs. Verona

The field was very muddy, but it was a crisp, sunny, fall day Saturday as Bologna and Verona took the field, both teams short a few players.

Cole Barker, Verona’s goalie in the first half, had his work cut out, as Bologna continually attempted to score on him; Jake Katzenberg, Brandon Liu, James Hull, and Jackson Mansfield gave it a go, and either their shots were blocked or went just wide of the goal.

Meanwhile, Liam Fuerst of Verona had a hard kick to the Bologna net, but a leaping block by goalie Jack Vegas prevented it. Tenacious defense in the form of Jeremiah Wysoker’s high kicks and Joshua Fish’s vigilant ball handling kept the ball away from Verona’s very tall players. Still, Rachel Farrah persisted on both offense and defense for Verona, while Oscar Sullivan played deep on defense for Bologna.

A just-wide scoring attempt by Niall Gallagher of Verona meant the game was scoreless at the half. In the second half, Jack Fergus played goalie for Verona, and he blocked a number of shots on goal by Hull and Sader Matar. Meanwhile Mansfield came in for Bologna at goalie and prevented a couple of close calls.

But Bologna’s energetic persistence and intensive pursuit of the ball paid off; in a dazzling display of teamwork, Vegas passed to Matar on a corner kick, and then Hull took it closer. A big group of defenders caused a commotion in the center of the field not far from the goal, but Joshua Fish was able to come up with the ball, and his kick high into the net over Fergus’s head resulted in the game’s only goal, with Bologna taking it 1-0.